The Journey of Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 1015 - 555: Ahua

The night was hazy, autumn insects murmured, leaves rustled, but other than this, was there any other silhouette within their extended Divine Thought?

Qingluan glanced back at the lady owner with doubt.

Ning Xiaoxian furrowed her brows, suddenly raised her head and stared at the gate pillar, sneered coldly: "Hey there, little thief hiding atop the pillar, do you really think I couldn’t detect your presence?"

As soon as she spoke, a shadow indeed jumped down from the flower-draped pillar!

Just as the Hidden Guards were about to rush forward, this person prostrated on the ground, touching their head to the floor, motionless, appearing oddly obedient.

What was going on here, knowing one’s strength cannot rival, so they simply surrendered? Even in the Ba Snake Mountain Range where strange occurrences happen annually, this person’s peculiar behavior shocked the Hidden Guards. Such complete etiquette; even they hadn’t bowed to the lady owner like this before.

Ning Xiaoxian said with a hint of amusement: "Are you the intruder in the Prince’s Mansion? With such inadequate abilities, you dare come to steal, truly courageous."

Even while kneeling on the ground, his aura seemed ethereal, not appearing in everyone’s Divine Thought. Were it not for seeing his shadow dragged under the moonlight, they would suspect this to be a yin ghost. Most importantly, this guy’s frame was so frail that a mere breeze seemed capable of toppling him, and he wasn’t very tall; curled up on the ground he made a tiny bundle, with absolutely no semblance of an expert. Jiu Mo scrutinized him for a few moments and suddenly said: "Only at the Transformation Stage cultivation, this truly is a fearless one!"

The crowd gasped in disbelief. Demons have sharp senses, and the Hidden Stream Demons, constantly engaged in battles, are outstanding in this regard. But when did a little demon at the Transformation Stage manage to conceal himself from so many Hidden Guards’ Divine Thought searches? The world must be going mad.

Then the question arose: how did Ning Xiaoxian pinpoint him directly when not even the most cultivated Jiu Mo noticed?

The Black-clothed Man suddenly raised his head to look at Ning Xiaoxian, his voice hoarse: "Benefactor, do you not remember me?" When he lifted his head, everyone saw clearly; this little demon’s human form was a young male about seventeen, eighteen years old, with a sallow, emaciated face that made his eyes appear even larger due to the absence of much flesh.

She raised her brows, not bothering to hide the surprise on her face: "Benefactor? Me?" When did she ever show kindness to this little demon, she couldn’t recall.

This little demon bowed his face even lower: "I, I am Ahua."

Who is Ahua, and who is Ahua? Which demon would choose such a ridiculous name? She pondered for a long time but couldn’t retrieve such a name from her memory. The little demon sneaked a glance at her, somewhat nervously said: "You, you once saved me at the pass between Feng Province and Leizhou, or else I’d have been stewed and eaten by a cultivator."

A flash of realization crossed her mind; she finally remembered who he was: "You’re that little Cat Demon?" As she escaped Rock City as a mortal, she had snuck through the pass at the border of Feng Province and Leizhou with the little bat demon brothers. At that time, she indeed saved a small Cat Demon. This cat was little and weak, with mixed bloodline; she saved him but didn’t give it a second thought, soon forgot about it. Believing he would remain at the Qi-gathering stage for life, who knew he could transform into a human?

Ahua immediately responded with joy: "It’s me, it’s me!" But the smile just appeared and quickly disappeared under Ning Xiaoxian’s cold gaze. She said plainly: "Congratulations on reaching the Transformation Stage. Quite bold of you, daring to enter Mirror Sea King’s Mansion to steal something?"

Ahua opened his mouth to explain, but Jiu Mo suddenly interrupted: "Forty meters away, someone is approaching, could be a patrol."

The little Cat Demon on the ground hardly dared to breathe, only looked pitifully at Ning Xiaoxian with wide, round eyes.

She glanced at him, sighed, reached out and said: "Revert back to your original form, come into my sleeve."

Ahua was overjoyed, instantly transformed back into his original form, a grey-striped tiger-striped cat. He bowed with his front paws folded, then quickly darted into Ning Xiaoxian’s sleeve. Today she was wearing a pomegranate skirt with wide sleeves, and Ahua’s cat form was small; she grasped the plush cat body, let the sleeve fall, making it impossible for outsiders to discern anything alive concealed in her sleeve.

She had just hidden Ahua when, indeed, another group of guards arrived from behind, still politely asking the guests to return to their rooms early for rest.

Clearly, Ahua had committed quite a serious offense, the crowd thought.

A group of people, under the moonlight, strolled leisurely back to Yiqing Garden. Ning Xiaoxian sent away the servants who were waiting here, erected a Barrier, contemplated briefly, and still placed some Hidden Guards outside to watch before extracting the fugitive from her sleeve and tossing him onto the ground. This Mansion had many strange occurrences, even the young Huangfuming could freely enter and exit the Great Demon’s Barrier; it wouldn’t be surprising for others to do the same, thus cautious measures were prudent. Whether it’s Ningyuan Hall or Hidden Stream, cooperation with the Mirror Sea King was needed, and she didn’t want to tear the face with the Mansion just yet.

"You have something I need," Ning Xiaoxian pointed at the Cat Demon’s chest, "probably here. Take it out for me."

Ahua was taken aback, yet still pulled out a red string from his chest, tied with a little pendant: "Is this what you’re referring to?"

This pendant looked peculiar, resembling a broken arrow tail, less than an inch in length; the shaft material appeared to be black stone, roughly crafted with a tactile roughness. The only feature suggesting this object was not a mere toy was the feather. Whether ordinary feathered arrows or sleeve arrows, they all have tail feathers, but this arrow tail’s feathers often disappeared into nothingness despite seemingly being neat, small black feathers. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)